Promise Me
by stironniganisreal
Summary: "She was certain that if it wasn't for the arsenal of gifts he had, then he would have died in that room. And Alex didn't want to think about Kaiden dying. Not one tiny bit. " - My take on Kailex's first kiss in Vardaesia


**We all know what I'm talking about when I say the words 'Graevale scene', 'Kailex', 'almost-kiss', and 'the moment we all were mentally screaming for one reason one moment and a completely different reason the next'.**

 **Uh huh. *That* scene.**

 **And we're all praying that Kailex do kiss in Graevale ... so here's one of my many MANY speculations for it.**

 **Disclaimer: I do not own the Medoran Chronicles**

Alex's hands were still quaking with her withheld anger from earlier, as she fluidly wound the strips of fabric around Kaiden's battered arm. Her palms ached from the fingernail indents she'd imprinted on herself when watching him fight, and her remaining adrenaline pulsed through her like a slowly failing buzz.

"Alex, I'm fine." Kaiden's quiet words were steady with reassurance, but it had little effect to soothe Alex's agitation, anger, and all the other emotions roiling inside her.

"They shouldn't have made you fight." The words were bitter in Alex's mouth as she spat them out. Kaiden proceeded to completely contradict himself when he released a low hiss of pain, his discomfort flashing across his features.

"Why the hell not?" he challenged. His eyes were that strange shade - not the cunning, concentrating blaze that entered his eyes when he was in the middle of a fight, nor the lighter, brighter, more content gleam when they were bantering - that indicated he was just too weary to care. If Alex wasn't so preoccupied by her anger and the need to patch him up herself, then she would have likely ordered him to sleep.

"Well, you're here because of _me_ , and it's bloody not fair that you should have to get hurt for it!" Angry tears sparked in Alex's eyes before she blinked them away furiously.

"Just because I'm not the hero here doesn't mean I shouldn't have to prove myself," Kaiden said, his voice quietening, using his free hand to reach out and rub her shoulder soothingly. "And anyway, it's worth being here."

Alex sucked in a sharp breath, finally tying a knot in the bandage. She really wished she had something else to offer him - _laendra_ , a salve, some of Fletcher's miraculous ointment - but really, all she could provide was some rough strips of fabric and a friendly face.

It had brought Alex no small amount of distress when the Tia Aurans decided that Kaiden would have to prove his own worth to them, just as she had, and shoved him into a trial that Alex was forced to watch. Alex shuddered as the scene washed over her eyelids; an unarmed Kaiden, trapped in an enclosed arena with a monster of an opponent, a huge reptilian beast that vaguely resembled an oversized wolverine.

She was certain that if it wasn't for the arsenal of gifts he had, then he would have died in that room.

And Alex didn't want to think about Kaiden dying. Not one tiny bit.

Forcing her turbulent thoughts away, Alex got to her feet and focused on carefully inspecting him for any further injuries. If he accessed a regeneration gift, then she knew that the cuts and bruises would heal in no time - but he was far too drained to be able to do that, so Alex had resorted to making sure he could last until the morning with no further blood loss or pain.

"Quit being noble, James," she told him, half joking and half not, as she studied a vicious-looking cut over his shoulder, evidently a souvenir from the creature's claws. The injury was shallow, but it still reminded her of the time she'd been scratched up by the Hyroa. Shifting the fabric aside, she was annoyed to find the shirt didn't extend far enough to let her properly check the scratch out.

"Ouch, the surname," he replied. It appeared he was in a humorous mood - either for his own sake or another attempt to calm her down, she wasn't quite sure.

Suddenly struggling to control the burning blush that threatened to rise, Alex chose to ignore his jab and tugged lightly at the fabric of his shirt. "Can you …?"

"Are you asking me to take my shirt off, Jennings?" _There it was_. His eyes had finally taken on that more positive, energetic, happy gleam, indicating that he wasn't really all that hurt. A little of the tension eased from Alex's shoulders.

"You're as bad as Jordan." Alex informed him, unable to resist smiling at his lighthearted banter. He really could be a cunning piece of cheek when he wanted to. She shook her head at him, planting her hands defensively on her hips, then worded her next few words carefully. "And anyway, you're the sort of idiot who'll say he's perfectly fine when he could be internally bleeding."

"That's more like _you_ , if anything," Kaiden retorted. Alex shot him a pointed look, and in one swift movement he had swept his shirt off. Instantly Alex's cheeks blossomed with heat, but she refused to give him the pleasure of seeing her admiring his deliciously defined torso. A quiet chuckle informed her that he knew exactly what she was thinking, and she swatted him lightly. She then proceeded to not think too much about how firm - or broad - his shoulder had felt.

"Name one instance where I've done that," she challenged as she set to work cleaning the claw marks. Thank goodness his opponent hadn't possessed any sort of poison, otherwise they'd be in a world full of trouble.

"Where to start," he mused aloud. "That time in the Combat exam where you dislocated your shoulder and could barely stand up straight - or maybe it was the time you were clawed up by a freaking _Hyroa_ and insisted it was 'just a scratch' - but hey, maybe the time after the SAS camp when you were dead on your feet and covered head to toe in cuts and bruises -"

"Okay, okay, I have a bad habit of that sort of thing," Alex admitted, her blush receding from her cheeks. Squashing her inner girly-girl into the very back of her mind, she swept her eyes over his torso for any further injuries. Nope, nothing severe, but _damn_ , why did he have to be so attractive? No wonder he was such a favourite with the female population at the academy.

Her cheeks blazing once more, her mind wandered to something she'd never really considered before: popularity status. Both Jordan and Bear were well known and well liked, so when she'd first shown up to Akarnae, there'd been no small field of speculation surrounding her. Having established herself a rather poor reputation in her earlier years, D.C. probably wouldn't be getting elected for class president any time soon. Mel and Connor weren't as widely known, as was Pipsqueak, but they all had fairly decent profiles. Blink was actually fairly popular; not so much in terms of girls, but he was a regular attendee at parties and out-of-school events - as was Declan. And Kaiden, being both best mates with Declan and in a bunch of highly regarded classes, topped with his family reputation - not to mention, the fact he was probably one of the most attractive guys at the academy - was also pretty much up there.

But Alex refused to see people like that. The teenage obsession over reputation and popularity had always been something that amazed her. _I mean, why bother?_ She preferred to make her own conclusions about people, see them from her own perspective. After all, the gossip mill's opinion on Kaiden was that he was this mysterious hottie - which, granted, was reasonably accurate, but there was a lot more depth to his personality and who he was than _that_.

"You've got a strange look on your face," Kaiden said, his low words jerking her from her thoughts. She shook her head quickly to clear her head of her frankly _ridiculous_ thoughts.

"Just thinking."

"About what?" His hands squeezed her side. She hadn't realised that he'd put his hands there until then, and wondered the exact moment when he had. But then again, her inner girlishness certainly never minded his touch. He was always careful, always respectful.

Alex met his concerned gaze. He was more than likely assuming that she was thinking about the same thing that had occupied her mind the last few days: Aven, and the mess they'd left behind in Medora. Ignoring the heartsickness suddenly throbbing through her, she released a deep breath. "Just … the academy."

It wasn't a downright lie, but she wasn't going to go ahead and say what had been exactly on her mind. Avoiding his gaze, she dropped onto the mattress beside him. They'd been holed up in their quarters for a few hours now, Alex too ticked off to civilly face any Tia Auran and Kaiden far too weary to really care.

"Hey," he said quietly, as she rested her head on his bare shoulder, her gaze wandering the room moodily. "They'll be okay. The wards should be able to keep Aven off." His hand was still resting on her side, his thumb moving up and down soothingly.

"I wouldn't have been surprised if he's attacked the academy by now," Alex said, unable to keep the misery out of her voice. "What if we get back and it's just empty because he Claimed them all?" She snapped shut on her words, barely keeping from doubling over as the horrendous concept overwhelmed her. Clapping her hand over her mouth, her eyes were suddenly filling with tears. All her friends … her classmates, her peers, her teachers … all just puppets of Aven's cause … and it would be _completely_ her fault.

Her voice suddenly hoarse, she said quietly, "I can't lose anyone else to Aven."

Kaiden didn't say anything, but she could practically hear his mental response. _You won't_. But they both knew that that was a lie. There was no certainty - despite him using as many gifts as he could to try and find out what was going on in Medora, he'd only been able to catch glimpses, and even then, there was even less decipherable information he could relay to her.

Rubbing her palms across her cheeks, she mumbled into her hands, "I _hate_ not knowing what's happening."

She felt him place a hand on her shoulder. "Me too."

"I'm just so _worried_ about everyone," Alex continued, her voice shaking a little towards the end. "And … and the knowledge that if I screw up everything, then not only Medorans die, but also Freyans …" she trailed off, shaking her head miserably.

"You won't screw up."

She shot him a bland look. "You can't promise anything, Kaid. You're not exactly a decider of fate."

"True." His gaze held hers. Then Kaiden shifted towards her, reaching out to take her hands in his own. It was more of a platonic gesture than a flirty one, and she grasped his in response. She raised her gaze to meet his.

"Let's at least make a promise to each other, then. Not necessary fate or the universe or anything extravagent," he continued.

Alex offered him a smile. "What sort of a promise?"

His eyes steadied, his face softening, in that gentle, private expression that she secretly loved. "That whatever the hell goes down when we go back to Medora, it's going to be worth it."

"Of course it will," she said quietly, dropping his gaze.

"Not good enough, Jennings," he said, his voice laughing but his eyes solemn and insistent, as Kaiden grasped her wrists and pulled her up with him as he stood up. "Okay. I, Kaiden Nathaniel James -"

"Your middle name is Nathaniel?"

"A, please let me finish this agreement without your pesky interruptions." Kaiden teased. "As I was saying before I was _rudely_ interrupted -"

"Say what?"

"Alex, I'm trying to promise something important to you!" He tugged on her wrists.

"Fine, fine. Go ahead."

"Why thank you. That's so kind." His humour was evident until his expression turned solemn. "Anyway. I, Kaiden Nathaniel James, promise that whatever happens in Medora following our return, it will be worth it."

"Worth what?"

"I'm getting a little worried that you seem at avoiding your end of the deal."

"Oh, fine. You got me." Alex's already burning cheeks deepened in colour. "I, Alexandra Rose Jennings -"

"Rose?"

"Now you're interrupting _me_!"

Kaiden rolled his eyes good-naturedly. "Continue then, whilst I succumb to the shame of my hypocrisy."

Biting on a laugh, Alex recited, "I, Alexandra Rose Jennings, promise that whatever happens in Medora following our return, it will be worth it."

Satisfied, Kaiden dropped her hands. "See, that's all I'm asking for."

"You're impossible!" Alex shot at him.

Kaiden looked both affronted and amused. "That's not very nice of you, Alex."

"I'm only telling the truth."

"Oh, you know you love me."

Alex felt like she'd just been fish-slapped across the face. Had he _seriously_ just said those words?

Cheeks burning, she turned away from him, listening to him cursing under his breath. The awkward silence that had descended was so thick with tension that she could practically feel the weight of it clustering in the air. She was mentally screaming; if it had been any other guy but him, then the context would have been purely platonic - but this was Kaiden. Shutting her eyes, her mind skimmed over every memory she associated with him. She felt strange and silly and shaky, whilst at the same time heavy with uncertainty.

She'd never loved somebody in _that_ way, and have come to terms with it.

"I screwed up," Kaiden said, the hostility of his choice words still lingering. His voice was rough. "I'm sorry."

In response, Alex wheeled around back towards him and pulled his mouth to hers.

There was a frozen moment where they both thought _Holy crap, we're actually kissing_ \- and then it was like somebody had flipped a switch. Alex's mind had utterly tunnelled onto him, and only him. Nothing else mattered, especially when his hands slid around her, into the tangled hair at the nape of her neck and the small of her back, when he kissed her back gently and carefully. She was completely and utterly mindblown, overwhelmed, complete putty in his hands.

She definitely did _not_ want him to stop.

It was the first time she'd ever kissed a boy, and as she pushed up onto her toes and wound her arms around his neck, shivering at the warm, firm proximity of his bare torso pressing against her, she was glad that it had been with him. She was unbelievably glad that she'd kissed him now, before something awful could happen to one of them - and something almost had happened to him today.

Slowly, reluctantly, they pulled apart - it took a while, since they kept tugging each other back in - both breathing heavily and sharing secretive, shy, stupid smiles. "You have no idea how long I've wanted to do that," he said quietly, his breath warm on her cheek.

Alex smiled, stepping quietly out of his arms. She didn't want to think about what the following day would hold; she just wanted to stay in this exact moment forever. But that was impossible, and selfish, and a thousand other no-nos.

Quietly, she said, "You really should get some sleep, Kaid."

But his grin was a cheeky one as he backed towards his own quarters. "Oh, Alex. I don't think I'm going to get much sleep after _that_."

Cheeks burning, Alex watched him leave, touching a light hand to her mouth, which still felt like his own was pressed against it. And despite her reservations about what was between them, she couldn't help but hope that there'd be more kisses in the future.

 **Aww.**

 **Just a clarification: The Tia Aurans decided Kaiden needed to prove himself as well, and he got hurt, which was why Alex was so angry as she patched him up in their quarters.**

 **Also, this was a little messy and clunky, but eh, fluff doesn't come easily to me.**

 **Please please please leave reviews!**


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